Sunday, 20 October 2013

' PIGS TROTTER TERRINE '

This plate came about purely on an impulse buy after seeing 2 trotters for $2.49 and I'd seen trotters done this way before by a dutch chef I'd worked under @ a Melbourne bar & grill, I thought it was a bargain for that price. So sorry I have no claim to 'whole animal eating' or 'nose to toes cookery' as I've seen it called. Other than the fact I've purchased a part rarely chosen by consumers of the now. I've mostly seen this served accompanied with bread pickle and cheese. But I happen to have in my fridge fresh porcini mushrooms and in the dry stores I'd purchased some weeks back some dried porcini mushrooms, forest harvested and imported from France so I decided to put a little french forest spin to the part of a pig that most consumers by-pass as their eyes are too busy searching franticly for those pork chops with that thick rind turn crackle or those succulent belly ribs. Well let me just say the toes of this animal aren't bad at all and should be thought about for a cheap and a tasty meal. To make the terrine the trotters were placed in a stock pot, covered with cold water and brought to a simmer with a bay leaf, fennel seeds, onions, peppercorns, ginger, star anise and juniper berries. After 4 hours the liquid was strained and reserved, the trotters were pulled apart to remove all the meat, cartilage, skin and fat from the bones and hoof. All this was then chopped roughly, seasoned and with some of the reserved stock packed into a container and chilled overnight in the fridge. All the natural gelatine sets the terrine in the mould which is turned out the next day and sliced before serving. To make the porcini pate which is really just a name, I blitzed fresh porcini mushrooms, toasted pine nuts, juniper berries with creme fraiche and added to this some dried porcini powder to give the pate its sharper flavour notes of porcini. The brined mustard seed was done using a mix of black and yellow seeds this time but still using the same brine and techniques descibed in early posts. The trusty bread maker supplied the sourdough and backyard for the greens in this dish. Other than this the pine nuts adding crunch to the dish were toasted on a hot skillet and roughly chopped. The junipers berries were crushed and done along with the nuts right at serving time to expose the most aromas on the plate for the diner to experience.
To plate the pate was spooned on to the plate and smeared using a wide scraper and a slice of the terrine placed on top. Some of the mustard was spooned to accompany and the plate was decorated with toasted sourdough, fresh and dried mushrooms, pine nuts, crushed juniper berries, with wild rocket and pea greens from the garden to garnish the dish.

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About Me

I am a self confessed food lover from seed to saucer and all in between. I've been working in the food industry for over 20 years now in various roles from the farms and vineyards to the cafe and restaurants and currently in the food processing industry making specialty bakery products on mass scale for the supermarket chains.My inspiration for playing with food comes from other contempory chefs, books and blogs but mostly I draw it from my garden. As I have a passion for post harvest processing, 0 food miles,slow food and the collection and use of unusual ingredients including wild harvested foods. My style usually consists of 4 to 5 elements, remixing old classics using contempory techniques and presentations. Ingredients are chosen by their food pairing attributes and similarities. Some of my dishes are adaptations of
chefs previous presentations as one must learn from somewhere and eventually take flight themselves and even then continue to stay in touch and adapt to the current trends.